Urban Models of Sustainable Development from the Economic Perspective: Smart Cities

In the following years smart cities are to play a fundamental role in the models of economic development. The cities that used to be just a place to live in are becoming areas that have to be adapted to the needs of their residents, and can guarantee them a better life quality, but always from a responsible position. The United Nations (UN) said repeatedly that in 2050 a 70 % of the world population would live in cities and some of them would have more than ten millions of residents. The purpose of this chapter is to make an approximation to the smart cities concept and to deepen into the application and the results of this kind of models of the urban development. The methodology is based on a theoretical–practical analysis of the smart cities. For this purpose an exhaustive analysis of the most recent economic literature on this topic has been done. Moreover, some of the most important results of this new model of the urban development have been indicated, so they can be applied to the problems that some cities have, and a case study has been done as well.